EDUCO: Teach English in Italy at Summer Camps

Firstly, I want to say that EDUCO has a lot of potential. I also think at one point, in former years, they may have been a great company to work for.

I’m not going to leave a scathing review. I did very much enjoy my time in Italy and I liked working at the camps and meeting friendly people. But I do think it is important to address the rather serious issues in a comprehensive review.

Let’s start with the positives.
Pro 1:
Orientation week, while long, was fun. I liked all the mentors (Charlie, Daniella, Kuba, and James) and my group (all 40 of us) got along very well. You can expect to know how to sing multiple camp songs at the end of training week. You can also expect good accommodations and meals. The 200 euros covers everything that week.
Pro 2:
If you have read much about EDUCO, you will know that we (the tutors) stay with host families. They are often the best part of the whole experience. I only got to stay with a family for one week in my month long stay, however, I really enjoyed living with them for that week. You are always given your own bedroom, and they are given money to buy you food. You are well taken care of.
Pro 3:
transportation to your next camp is always covered. You don’t usually get a direct train (which sometimes results in missed connections as trains in Italy are always late) but you will never have to pay for your ticket (unless you are going on a personal trip of course).

Pro 4:

You may get to see lots of Italy. It definitely depends though. In my three weeks I went from Sanremo, to Milan, to Sanremo again, and then back to Milan. Don’t ever expect to be near Rome, Florence, Venice, or Sicily- but it could happen!

Pro 5:

You get to meet lots of nice, friendly people and the camps are fun.

Pro 6:

The EDUCO training manual is great! You have tons of games and songs at your disposal right there in an organized book.
The workbooks for the kids are also pretty good.

Now onto the cons..

Con 1:

My impression of EDUCO is that they are a VERY disorganized company. From not giving transportation/camp details for the Saturday until Friday evening, to having to message HR again and again to get an answer about
placements, transportation, payment, etc., to people being laid off with NO notice because there are “no more camps”.

Con 2:

You may get placed in a flat instead of a host family. The flat in Sanremo is in a state of disrepair and has black mold and a shower that is falling apart. For over a week my roommate smelt burning and we worried about an electrical fire because of the exposed wires. When we brought this to HR, nothing was done. There is also no wifi or laundry in the Sanremo flat. There are only 1-2 keys in each apartment (sanremo and Milan) but there can be 4-5 people in each flat. In Sanremo, the key was lost by a fellow tutor, so we had to climb through our window from the street for multiple days. In Milan, I was locked out of the apartment for three hours and slept on the floor.

Con 3:

Hold.
Being placed on hold means you don’t have work for one week, but you will be given a free place to live (Sanremo or Milan) and a 50 euro food stipend. You may be placed on hold for longer than one week, so don’t expect to always have work. This can be a pro or a con I guess. But most people I’ve talked to don’t view it as a pro so I’ve put it in the cons.

Con 4:

There were not enough camps this summer. The prices were raised for July, so camps backed out. This led to too many tutors with nowhere to go. Multiple people were just told to go home, others were put on hold.

Con 5:

Communication.
EDUCO is bad at communicating with their staff. Like I mentioned above, you will get camp details for the next week the day before. You also shouldn’t expect very quick replies as the office is OVERWHELMED. They need more staff in the office.

Con 6:

Training week was way too long. It could have been done in 3 days. I would have liked to learn how to teach English as opposed to constantly practicing my singing.

**This is only my personal experience. I will let fellow tutors share their own and fill in anything that I’ve missed. I do not wish to come off as bad mannered or too abrupt. I am only speaking the truth as it applies to my own experience with EDUCO.

Where do I even begin. Applying for Educo was a last-minute decision that ended up being one of the best summer adventures of my life - from exploring small towns in Emilia Romagna and beautiful coasts in the south of Italy, biking along medieval villages, driving past abundance of olive trees in Imperia to trying local flavours in Napoli, visiting an abandoned city in Basilicata, and getting the opportunity to live with Italian host families that turned out to be an experience that made the summer magical and thrilling.

What I love the most working with Educo is the creative and collaborative culture that it has wherein ideas are encouraged, feedback and support are all given, and training is provided. Educo trains and prepares its tutors with the necessary skills needed before deploying them to the camps and the mentors during orientation were all amazing! In addition, Educo takes care of everything - from transportation tickets between camps to accommodation to ensuring your safety and keeping tabs on how you're doing.

The heart of the summer for me though were the kids. Every camp is a whole different experience in itself but is just as rewarding and being able to receive feedback from the kids and from the parents make everything worth it. You don't need a theatre or drama background to apply for Educo. If you have the heart of a child, energy that is contagious, creativity, and the willingness to make an impact on the lives of the kids, then you're all set! At the end of the day, I realized that it is all about encouraging kids to develop this love for learning and helping them realize as well that learning English can be fun

It's been a year since the camps and I'm back in Spain now and I still meet up with some of my co-tutors and I even saw one of my host families when they visited Spain. I keep in touch with all the host families that I've lived with - sending each other photos and videos and all - and they're all just as lovely. Grazie Educo!

I had the opportunity to work for Educo last Summer and it was a great experience. I work as a language assistant in Spain throughout the year and this was a great way for me to make money during the summer. I was very nervous as I personally didn't know how I would do with the theatre aspect. But the orientation was amazing. It was an intense week but they fully prepared us for camp. They also provide us with manual that is heaven sent!! I got the chance to stay with host families and it was an amazing experience. The families were so kind and welcoming. You will get to see parts of Italy you probably have never heard of. I stayed mostly in the North in quiet towns. I loved it because it was parts of Italy I probably never would have traveled to if not for Educo.

I applied for this program pre-pandemic and was sad to not be apart of the program in 2020. After postponing a year I finally got to go in 2021 and had the most incredible experience. As an adult in America I am always constantly stressed about where I need to go, what I need to do, and planning planning planning but EDUCO took care of everything for the summer. It was like the biggest sigh of relief. At orientation I was immediately impressed at their curriculum. As a theatre teacher in California there are so many teaching programs that rely on me to create my own lessons. EDUCO has every minute of your lesson planned out with great detail and highly qualified staff to teach the materials to you. They will not send you out into a classroom without feeling fully prepared for what lies ahead.
As far as the summer went, it was the best experience. EDUCO plans planes, trains, and all transportation for your travel days. They coordinate host families and who is picking you up where and when. The host families are the best part. You become a part of their family. The worst part about the whole summer is saying goodbye to these amazing people, just to turn around in a few hours in a new city to meet another amazing family. I went to places such as San Remo, Sardinia (!!!!), Milan, Breno, and so many more as well as traveling on my own to Rome, Genova, Naples, Capri on the break week in the middle of the summer.
I also got the dream experience of meeting the love of my life. In each camp you are paired with another EDUCO tutor and always bond and become friends and great colleagues. But sometimes, you get paired with your soulmate.

Last year I made my way to Italy thinking that I would be working at a typical summer camp. I have lived in Spain the last five years, so this isn’t my first time working in an ESL setting. I thought this experience would be a great opportunity to see a little bit of Italy and make some money as well. Educo, however, exceeded my expectations in so many ways. The Educo experience offers you the opportunity, not only to work in Italy, but to live and explore this beautiful country in extraordinary ways. I can promise you one thing! You will have a summer full of new experiences and amazing friends.

Kuba and Charlie were my mentors during the orientation in Sanremo. They are amazing! Fun, fun, fun! We, the new tutors, learned everything we had to know about the activities and the teaching method. We experienced the activities from the role of campers. Also every day we had the opportunity to teach what we had learned. We have played all week! We had constant feedback from Charlie and Kuba and if we had any questions or needed advice during camps they were available to help us no matter where in Italy they were. Inam very grateful with their generosity.

I have been doing 11 weeks of summer camps in different cities and towns all over Italy (Piacenza, Rome, Tortoretto Lido, Naples, Breno, Vezza D'Oglio, Tolentino)
Each camp is unique and special. Each day is different but the base is the fun and happiness with the students and collegues. The possibility to inspire Italian students is so gratifying.
Communication and team work is more than important during camps. I met amazing tutors, camp directors, camp assistants and helpers! I can happly say I have new friends.

In my experience the most difficult moments were saying 'arrivederci' to the Host Families.
They made me feel always at home! I was part of the family as a son, a brother. After a working day I had an incredible time with them. They showed me new cities, new foods, new drinks.
I am in touch with them and after camps I had the opportunity to met them again sharing a coffee, a meal or a weekend in the beach.

Educo gave me the possibility to develop my language skills as a teacher-tutor and also as an actor. Everytime I needed something Sophia was there helping me as well as the area references (Ada, Marina)
It was one of the best experiences I had travelling around the world.

I’ve been doing Educo camps for two years in a row now and I’m so excited to head back for my third Summer with Educo this year!
It’s an unreal experience travelling around Italy, teaching, being immersed in the culture and sharing memories with new friends.

I was both excited and nervous to stay with families during my time at camp as I’d never done anything like this before. Each family I went to gave me a warm welcome and were eager to get to know me. We shared evenings together talking, eating, drinking and laughing together and they were kind enough to take me to places around their towns and cities so I could explore the sights. I stayed in touch with my families afterwards and I managed to visit them again the next Summer which was so sweet.

Within the camps you’re a part of a team, working together to create a fun and magical experience for the children. You get the chance to embrace your inner child alongside your peers as you lead and take part in the activities with the children.
My favourite part of camps is being able to create a final show with your class. You work with your class to write a story and a script in English and you spend time with them making set and costumes. It’s a rewarding experience having your class help create a show in a completely different language to their own and seeing how proud their families are of their incredible work.

The support from the Educo team is second to none. The orientation was so fun and insightful as we were trained and mentored on how the camps work and what was expected from us as tutors in a camp. You meet so many new people at the orientation who you are experiencing this new adventure together with and create strong bonds along the way.

I highly recommend you spend your Summer with Educo camps. If you’re looking to teach, travel, experience a new language and culture and make lasting memories then apply and have an incredible Summer!

This experience was the first time I have travelled alone and EDUCO made it so simple and safe to get around the country. The first week of orientation was a brilliant opening week to Educo and, although intense, really taught me about the company and its goals. I really believe theatre and interactive education is the best for language learning and was so happy to find myself working for a company whose beliefs comply so much with my own.

The camps I worked on (Paestum and Napoli) were amazing and teaching English was such a rewarding job. I still keep in contact with one of my class helper who became a really good friend of mine too.

The host families were the most loving and kind families and I am very grateful to them. During the time I lived with them, I learnt the importance of buffalo mozzarella, met their entire family including great aunts who spoke no English at all, went to an Italian first birthday party, read to the children and taught them English in the evenings and saw some really local and fascinating parts of Italy.

Finally, the other tutors that I met through Educo were amazing. I was so lucky to work with some amazing people from all around the world!